The present invention relates to devices which can be attached to and removed from a storage rack for enabling a user to step up and ascend a portion of the storage rack.
Storage racks are commonly used in warehouses and other storage facilities for supporting merchandise, boxes or pallets which support boxes or other items. It is often desirable for a worker to be able to ascend a portion of the storage rack to be able to remove or have access to items stored on the shelves of the storage rack.
A rack is typically constructed of at least two metal vertical support elements and one or more horizontal shelves. The shelves support the items, which often comprise boxes or cartons. The vertical support elements are typically constructed of metal and generally have a plurality of regularly spaced holes which can be used for bolts or screws or other attaching means which are attached to the shelves. Examples of such storage racks can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,303,937; 4,113,110; 4,549,665; 5,463,966; and 5,713,476, for example. The position of the shelves, bolts and screws can therefore be adjusted.
Currently, workers who wish to remove items from shelves of the storage racks described above are often forced to stand on a box, fork lift, tugger or pallet jack or on the lower most shelf of the rack and reach up and attempt to grab a box or carton either by a hand or by using hook-type device. Often a person will damage merchandise on a lower shelf by stepping on the carton or merchandise, or can damage contents in the carton by scrapping or puncturing it with the hooking tool. Furthermore, the person can sometimes topple the carton onto himself or onto the floor when pulling the carton off the rack or may fall off the forklift or box he is standing on.
It would be desirable for such a warehouse worker to have a step device which could be easily inserted into and removed from a portion of a storage rack to enable the worker to more readily and safely reach items stored at various heights and lateral positions on the storage rack. It is to this object that the present invention is directed.